In recent weeks, both the Miller's Grizzled Langur and a giant tortoise species have returned from from presumed extinction. In their honor, TIME takes a look at other critters and creatures who have come back from the "dead"

Laotian Rock Rat

By Allison BerryWednesday, Jan. 25, 2012

Uthai Treesucon / Florida State University / AP

While city-dwellers might like to see the end of all rat kind, scientists in Asia are just as eager to bring them back to life. The Laotian rat was "rediscovered" in 2005  on the chopping block at a food market along the Mekong River. Initially researchers thought the rat was a brand new species, but later discovered the critter actually belonged to an ancient rat family that had been thought to have been extinct for 11 million years. The nocturnal rodent looks like a cross between your average rat and a squirrel, as it has the thick tail of a squirrel and the gray body and long whiskers of a rat. Several other varieties have since been found in Laotian food markets, leading scientists to believe that the rats may be more common (and tastier) than one might assume.